Departments
Research Briefs
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Week of 14 November 1997 |
Vol. I, No. 12 |
Research Briefs
The U.S. Army as management guru? In the past 20 years, one way the Army has rebuilt itself as a nimble organization is through the practice of "lessons learned." According to School of Manage-ment research team members Professor Lloyd Baird, Professor John Henderson, and research associate Stephanie Watts, the military's Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) has had particular success in improving its fast-cycle response -- how quickly an organization responds to change.
At CALL, military operations are observed and analyzed not only for training purposes but as immediate feedback for field commanders. In Haiti's 1994 mission, CALL developed 26 training scenarios for replacement troops; in the next six months, the replacement units encountered 23 of those scenarios. Field soldiers credited the mission's success to the fact that thanks to the accurate training scenarios, they had "already walked down this street 20 times before."
The team believes that CALL's techniques can be adapted to corporate organizations. "Business-people must realize that they're responsible for creating knowledge," says Baird. "Then they must have mechanisms for channeling that knowledge into the next decision." Finally, an organization must be able to integrate lessons learned into ongoing training and development programs, and utilize the appropriate technology as well.
Henderson notes, "It's been said that in Vietnam, because of officer-rotation policies, the Army didn't fight for nine years, but fought for one year nine times. CALL is a superb model for today's fast-moving organizations."
Synthetic steroid dramatically reduces stroke damage. A team at the School of Medicine has discovered that a synthetic compound significantly limits brain damage when administered after a stroke. Their finding could lead to the development of drugs to treat stroke and could also slow the progression of Parkinson's disease and ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
According to David H. Farb, professor and chair of the department of pharmacology, the compound, pregnanolone hemisuccinate, can be easily and inexpensively produced. "This compound has remarkable neuroprotective properties," says Farb. "It represents the first of a new class of potential therapeutic agents to treat stroke and other neurodegenerative diseases."
When a person has a stroke, oxygen can't get to neurons, which then die. In dying, neurons release glutamate, which activates certain receptors of neighboring neurons, which in turn produce more glutamate and kill more neurons. Similar to their findings on the hormone beta-estradiol, however, Farb's team found that pregnanolone hemisuccinate deactivates these receptors; thus, far fewer neurons die.
Currently the only accepted treatment for stroke is the drug TPA, which is extremely expensive, only somewhat effective, and can't be used in all types of stroke. "Pregnanolone hemisuccinate or related compounds promise to be far less costly, more effective, and beneficial for all strokes," says Farb.
Guiding child care in a safer direction. The research of SSW Assistant Professor of Social Work Libby Zimmerman on infants, parents, and caregivers focuses on the safety and well-being of children. "The untimely death of Matthew Eappen is not just a legal case or an isolated personal problem," she says, "but rather a social issue that exposes the weaknesses in our child-care system." She offers the following suggestions for all caregivers -- from stay-at-home parents to group day-care providers to au pair agencies.
- Social isolation is a predictor of child abuse. Au pair and nanny agencies can address social isolation by offering employees weekly supervision, assisting them in creating play groups, and providing respite backup care. Stay-at-home parents can form neighborhood play groups and provide backup care for one another.
- Infants' social, emotional, and cognitive growth and development require pleasurable interactions and fulfilling exchanges with caregivers. External support can buoy caregivers' efforts to create meaningful interactions. There is a large network of professionals who can offer help if it is needed, including pediatricians, social workers, and psychologists.
- Close, warm connections among all caregivers support the ability of each individual caregiver to nurture the baby. Agencies could require care- givers to regularly meet with parents to share feedback on the baby's development. Stay-at-home parents can confer with their spouses and other significant people in the baby's life.
- Workplaces can play a crucial role in supporting family commitments. Employers can create flexible policies enabling workers to remain in closer contact with their children and caregivers.
"Research Briefs" is compiled by Janice Zazinski of the Office of Public Relations.